Hit & Run
One of the most frustrating types of motor vehicle collisions are a “hit and run,” where the at-fault driver hits your vehicle and quickly leaves the scene, and you behind. These cases can be challenging to navigate alone, because you likely don’t have much information about the driver who hit you. As Utah Personal Injury Attorneys, we have experience with hit and run cases, and can help you navigate the process to find and gather evidence to prevail on your case.
Reduce Stress So You Can Focus on Getting Beter
Hiring an attorney immediately after a hit and run gives you the best chance of either finding the responsible driver or handling your claim with your own insurance company. Do not wait very long to find someone to represent you if you want your case to go well.
Even in the case of “hit and run,” claims with an attorney on your side will likely result in increased compensation and coverage of your medical expenses. The attorneys at Johnson Livingston, PLLC are here to focus on the details of your case, so that you can focus on your recovery!
What To Do if You are Involved in a Hit & Run
If you’re involved in a hit and run accident, and you can do so safely, the first thing you should do is take a picture of the other driver’s car, particularly the license plate, as they leave the scene. This gives you the best chance of tracking them down and holding them accountable.
Second, contact the police and provide them with any information you have about the other driver.
Third, begin documenting the accident by taking photos of your vehicle and the location of the accident.
Fourth, if there are any witnesses, be sure to get their names, contact information, and verify what they observed about the other car or its driver.
Finally, it may be possible that local businesses have cameras pointed in the area where the collision took place. Think business surveillance, traffic cameras, ATM footage- these all may have the video evidence of the hit and run. However, time is of the essence in requesting footage from these locations, as many places tape over their recordings on a weekly basis.
You also may want to see if any witnesses have a dash camera. If you’re too injured to take these things on your own, that’s why it is even more important that you find a Utah Personal Injury Attorney right away to help preserve this evidence and get the case moving.
Insurance Companies Want to Protect Their Interests, and Will Use Anything You Say Against You, if Necessary
Everyone is familiar with the phrase from the famous Miranda warning case that “anything you say, can and will be used against you,” but most believe this only applies in criminal cases. However, the concept equally applies to discussing your case directly with any insurance company (yours or the other parties).
When it comes to “hit and run” cases, because there is no other party to be found to confirm how the crash took place, your own insurance company may be skeptical regarding your UM claim, or claim for “uninsured motorist coverage” – the type of claim you can make against your own insurance in this situation. Unfortunately, due to the lack of a defendant, there is one less insurance policy available (the other driver’s) to pay for your medical expenses and accident-related damages.
Having an Attorney Helps You Navigate Utah Laws & Protect You Throughout Your Case
In most cases, Utah law requires you to start with utilizing your personal injury protection (PIP) to cover any injuries, even in a “hit and run” incident. It’s best to have a Utah Personal Injury Attorney assist you in writing up your statement for your insurance, or be present while giving your recorded statement. This ensures that you’re not making any statements that could be used against you later on when trying to get your own insurance to cover benefits you’ve already paid for. Given that insurance companies are always interested in paying out the least amount of money possible, even to their own clients, it is not uncommon for them to try to use your past medical history and injuries to justify not paying you the compensation you need.
This is why finding a Utah Personal Injury attorney that takes the time to listen, like those at Johnson Livingston, is important to prevailing on your “hit and run” claim. We are committed to protecting your interests regardless of the size or complexity of your case.
We Focus on The Details of Your Hit & Run Case So You Can Move Forward
Here at Johnson Livingston, we take our jobs personally. Our attention and passion has been and always will be focused on our clients. We give each case everything we’ve got. We care about the results our clients receive and we work hard to get to know our clients, their challenges, injury, and their ability to recover and live a good life.
Winning a hit & run case requires the injured person to prove the liability of the person who hit you. Evidence must be collected and presented that shows you are not at fault for the incident. It must be known, without doubt, that you did not cause the hit and run.
By putting our clients’ needs first we focus on doing what we do best and share your story based on facts and evidence. We communicate through every step of the process, making it easy for you to focus on getting better while we focus on your case. To do our best work and successfully tell your story, we rely on full disclosure and honesty from each of our clients.
Steps in the Process for a Hit & Run Case
1.
Set up free consultation to meet with one of our attorneys and discuss questions and concerns you have about your case.
2.
After discussing your case and determining if we are a good fit, we will schedule a secondary call or in-person meeting to customize an action plan and discuss the preliminaries of your case.
3.
Following our meeting, one of our experienced personal injury paralegals will reach out and ask any follow-up questions and collect any remaining information needed to get your case started.
4.
We will begin to establish your case. This will involve collecting information about the accident (emergency room and Doctors’ visits, insurance requests), gathering documents pictures, and information regarding the location and surrounding environment where the injury occurred, your injury and the treatment plan, etc.
5.
Your attorney will follow up within 30 days to see how your treatment and recovery are going. Everything will be documented in detail and your progress will be tracked. We follow up with you at let once a month to see how things are going and to keep you in the loop. Once treatment has been complete then we move onto step 6.
6.
We prepare a demand letter and any other necessary paperwork to send it out to file your claim.
7.
We will monitor the status of your claim, and continue to follow up with you and all necessary parties to keep it going forward. This step typically takes anywhere from two weeks to 30 days.
8.
Negotiations will follow, which can take days or weeks to complete. This is where we may settle if it makes sense for your case, move to mediation or arbitration depending on your specfic case needs.
9.
If we choose to move forward with any case that is filed with the court (Arbitration, Jury Trial) we will take the appropriate steps until your case is complete. This process can be challenging and timely and if or when we reach this step we will take you through to completion.
10.
Move forward with confidence and peace of mind knowing that our attorneys did everything within their power to ensure you were rightfully taken care of for the future.
Pricing and Compensation from Case?
Call: (801) 948-9670
Text: (801) 683-5359
When a claim settles, our fee is 1/3 of the settlement value.
For cases that are filed in the court, or litigated, our fee increases to 40% of any money awarded.
Our fees are standard in the Utah personal injury marketplace.
Areas We Serve in Utah
Davis County
Salt Lake County
Sanpete County
Utah County
Johnson | Livingston, LLC
Personal Injury & Trial Attorneys
195 South Orem Blvd, Suite 1
Orem, UT 84058
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Disclaimer: This website and its contents are intended for informational purposes only and do not intend to provide or replace medical or legal advice.